Manchester Directors Award Funds For Farm Purchase

MANCHESTER — The board of directors on Tuesday helped close a funding gap in the local land trust's pending purchase of a 63-acre farm in the town's southwestern corner.

The board voted unanimously to appropriate $98,000, the remaining money in a $3 million open space bond issue that voters approved in 2004, to help the Manchester Land Conservation Trust purchase the Botti Farm.

The trust has a contract to acquire the property for $915,000. In October, the state awarded the trust a $594,750 grant. With the boost from local funding, land trust representatives said Tuesday that they plan to cover the remaining cost by taking out a three-year, low interest loan from the Washington, D.C.-based Conservation Fund.

The current property owner, Steven Botti, has said his grandfather, Louis Botti, started the farm in 1914. The family raised livestock and grew vegetables and fruit and also ran a cider mill in a post-and-beam barn that is to remain on the property, land trust President Malcolm Barlow said.

Like other parcels in the approximately 400 acres the trust owns, the Botti Farm will be open to the public, Barlow said. The trust also is exploring ideas to revive farming on the site, which has rich soil and a spring-fed pond.

In other business, directors balked at increasing parking fines on Main Street. The Downtown Manchester Special Services District has asked that fines be hiked from $10 to $25 for overtime violations and from $15 to $35 for so-called "same zone" violations in which a person moves a vehicle from one parking space to another in the same area to avoid a ticket.

District representatives say they want to ensure free parking for business customers, but they struggle with vehicle owners who are not business patrons taking up prime spaces on Main Street. Those people include business owners and employees and tenants of downtown apartments, district commissioner Steve Carter told directors.

The current fines, Carter said, are not much of a disincentive. With the added funds from increased fines, the district planned to hire another parking constable, adding to the one now working 20 hours a week, Carter said.

But several directors said the district should work to better communicate parking rules before turning to increased fines. Directors noted the lack of signs alerting people to the two-hour limit on most on-street parking.

Downtown district Manager Tana Parseliti said that most business owners are well aware of parking rules, but that she appreciated the need for renewed communication.